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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Well, I have ended my 19 year stint as a home care nurse with a bang. The very last patient I called to arrange a visit informed me they thought they had "Zinker" Virus. Turns out it was probably food poisoning or some GI virus but definitely not Zika here in the northeast. With great restraint, I reassured the patient by educating them in the fine points of Zika and the usual symptoms (in which this patient did not have a single one). It reminded me of what my grandmother use to say when someone was whining complaining about coming down with some ailment. She would calmly reply " Well, if you want it bad enough, you can have it."
Good luck to all of you caring for our in hospital and community patients. I am sure we will be hearing this refrain a lot, I am afraid. And I am sure someone eventually will get Zika, but I am not so sure they really wanted it.

About Me

I have worked for 40 years in the nursing profession. I discovered a passion for writing on issues affecting nurses during grad school. Currently, I am working with a digital healthcare company helping hospitals to reduce re-admissions and improve recovery for cardiac surgery patients.